TEST DRIVE ∞ May 2025

[thediadem]

Test Drive ∞ May 2025

The First Collision

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Jump ⇅ :: Arrival — Panorama — Fringes — Invite Request

The Diadem is an invite-only panfandom game set in a retro-futuristic world where uprooted souls find themselves deep within an eerie wasteland of roads and highways frequently assailed by cosmic storms. Three united strongholds keep the population. Its capital is Panorama, a large metropolis at the planet's center.

Soon, you realize you aren't alone. Calling themselves fluxdrifts, the "locals" have similar stories to you, either for themselves or their ancestry. You speak to an old woman who claims she hailed from another star. You meet a young man who says his great-great-grandfather knew a strange language everybody spoke "back home." As you explore, you stumble across a coin you recognize or your sister's locket. How did it get here? What does this mean? That's for you to discover.

But first, you need to find a ride.

No invites needed to play on the TDM. Everyone's welcome! Use the Invite Request thread below to request an invite from another player.

∞ Summary ∞

IC-wise, arrivals are scattered throughout the month. Events described on the TDM are also ongoing throughout the month. If you'd rather jump right into the action, you're free to begin in media res with your character having already been on the planet for several days.

Post-impact, characters will wake up in a med tent by the Scrapyard. From there, they must accept a vehicle on loan and make the 2-hour drive to the nearest city, Panorama. If they refuse the car because they don't want the loan, they'll be in debt for medical bills instead...so just take the car. It'll come in handy.

Some things to keep in mind when bringing in your character:

• Pick an injury. At minimum, they got knocked out; at most, whatever they can recover from. Medicine is decently advanced so they'll heal faster if not painlessly.
• Decide items kept. Reasonable items on their person only: photos, keys, clothes, costumes. No pets or animal companions. Wildly out-of-place tech and personal cell phones will be damaged beyond repair.
• Select a weapon. Do this only if eligible. Guidelines about weapons and powers are on the FAQ.
• Choose a vehicle. Decide whether your character gets 2-3 options or if they're stuck with something they hate. Players can pick directly from our collection or source their own images. Anything under a similar aesthetic will work. If your character needs accommodations for driving, they can have them. Ask us for details.
• Get a phone. Characters have to obtain a phone (and a SIM card) themselves. If they've got one from home, it's damaged beyond repair. Phones are cheap. It'll only take a couple of weeks to afford one. You need to know the number before you text or call anyone. Read about phones and the Forum before you hop on it.

TDM threads can be canon if characters are accepted. Top-levels made to the TDM should be open to all.

TDM Questions? Here — Game Questions? FAQ

Setting — Taken — Reserves — Applications ::: ⇅ Top

Fluxdrift

Arrival & Introduction

Date: Throughout May

You've tumbled over a cliff. You were fighting for your life. You're on the cusp of death. You slipped in the shower. Whatever the catalyst, you struggle to cling to consciousness. As darkness overtakes you, a swirling vortex warps light and shadow in a way that defies all physics. A dark wail etches into your very bones. You couldn't describe it if you tried. You can barely comprehend what it is.

Then you open your eyes.

Through the figure's mask ©, you swear the face is grinning down at you. The tent you're in smells of antiseptic, and scratchy blankets line your cot. Injuries you've sustained have been bandaged. In the corner, you spot a MedBot that's fixed you up. Depending on the extent of your injuries, the doctor on duty might give you some painkillers before you go. Thankfully, your belongings are by the exit. Sorry if anything's damaged. Your landing was pretty rough.

You follow the figure outside. They are Yom Crook, here to lend a hand to fellow fluxdrifts like yourself. Their car's parked beside them. Actually, there are lots of cars around, but Yom Crook's stands out with its painted shark mouth. They explain they found you, unconscious, in a diffusion zone and brought you here. The nearest city is a 2-hour drive northeast. Forget about walking. You'll never make it. Also, you owe the doctor a lot of money for patching you up. But you're in luck: they've got some wheels for you and if you accept the vehicle on loan, Yom Crook will cover your medical bills. That's a good deal, right? It's not the shiniest car or motorcycle, but it'll do. If fortune favors, you'll get to choose between two or three options. Plus, if you need accommodations to drive—like adjustments to your seat height or modified controls—you'll receive all that for free.

Take the vehicle. (And the loan.) Yom Crook assures you that you'll have six months before collectors come around. Any time you're ready to pay a part of it down, return here to the Scrapyard. You'll get a receipt and everything. Paying off the loan in six months isn't impossible, but it will take a lot of work. Just don't get too lax. There's a good chance you'll be juggling multiple loans as you try to get by.

You either know how to drive, or you'll have a bare-bones manual to get you started. Road rules are more a suggestion than enforced, so just hit the pedal and go. The car has some basic features. The built-in compass will help you navigate.

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: a flat tire; a body on the road (is it a trap?); a fender bender

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Panorama

Explore & Settle In

Conditions: Warm spring temperatures, light showers

After 2 hours on the road, you find civilization. The largest of the strongholds, Panorama is where the economy thrives. Massive power plants glowing red make it visible from a distance. The city is divided into three districts. For now, you can access the Pavilion and the Blocks. Don't worry about the Sanctum; they're not letting you in.

You only need to know two things about Panorama: 1) it's big, the size of a modern metropolis, and you'll need your car to get around; 2) anything goes as long as you don't pick a fight with the wrong person. Street smarts will get you far. Despite its geographical size, the population isn't huge. With roughly a million people in a city designed for over twice that number, Panorama is far from deserted, but nor is it overcrowded. It's a good thing. Resources are limited as it is.

The Pavilion: Free Samples

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Like any large city, Panorama features a couple of supermarkets. The stock's not as consistent as a proper supermarket. On occasion, shelves can remain cleaned out for a week or two. Regardless, the long tradition of free samples remains. If you're not already shopping, you'll notice the crowded parking lot and clusters of lines inside.

Try samples, push through the crowds as you shop, or give yourself a five-finger discount. If you're cautious, you can pocket a few small items without consequences. The Pavillion doesn't have the infrastructure for surveillance; unless someone sees you, you won't be caught. Steal from the store or pilfer someone's wallet. Maybe you even make a new friend if you bump into another fluxdrift. Or, start a fight with somebody who cut you off in the cheese line. Don't make too much of a ruckus, or you'll be thrown out.

As you look around, you'll see posters advertising temporary positions for the cash register or graveyard shifts in the warehouse. Seems they might've lost several employees recently (how'd that happen?), which is good for you! It's just a 6-week position, but it'll get you on your feet. The city has temporary positions like this all over. Permanent ones are harder to come by when you're new.

Samples include: steamed cabbage dumplings, synthetic cherry juice, cheddar cheese, and chocolate-covered alien eggs (it's crunchy and weirdly tasty). They're served in the usual throwaway paper cups with little toothpicks.

The Blocks: Power Outage

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Power's finicky in Panorama, especially in the Blocks. Saint Margery's Hospital, located in the same area, has priority for power so the first to go are the motels. Maybe you've been in your room for a couple of weeks, maybe you just got here—and by the way, every motel desk is happy to put the fee on your tab if you don't have the money upfront—but all the motels on the east side are in a blackout, leaving only the west side motels up and running.

What do you do? You have three choices:

• Risk leaving your room and head to the other side where there's power. Knock on some doors and negotiate with another to share the room. They might shut the door in your face, ask for a favor in return, or be nice enough to help you with no strings attached. There's no guarantee your unattended room will be untouched, though, and you'll be on the hook for any damages an intruder causes.
• Sit in the dark and deal. It's not the worst idea, but the TV's down, the vending machines are powered down, and with the entire place plunged into darkness, you risk getting robbed. If you struggle with defending yourself, you might want to find some trustworthy company. You can also sneak out of there and let them take your leftover pizza. It's not like you've got a ton of valuables, right? Plus, clobbering someone in the face with a frying pan sounds great until you realize you've gotta do something with the body. And what if this person's got a friend waiting?
• Get in your car and drive (or grab a friend for a road trip). If you scroll the Forum, you might notice reports on diffusion zones southward. Besides, these motels are hardly your forever home. The city can only provide so much. Why not go for a ride and see what you can find out there?

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: clean up on aisle 3 (what is that goo?); a knock at your door but no one's there; you hear screaming or a commotion down the hall

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The Fringes

Quad 3: Lockdown

Conditions: Stormy, with flooding roads

Felix Bjurstrom
> Date: 125-05-17
> Time: 02:15:57

> Emergency road lights have been reported in Quadrant 3! Please, can someone go see what's there? When last we chasers investigated emergency lights, a whole truck filled with sour candy had tipped over. Our stores were stocked for weeks! Oh, be careful - reception looks bad in that zone.

Whether you end up here on your own or you were following a tip on the Forum, the outcome is the same: you come to a stop in front of a 2-story office building that's flooded several inches deep. Emergency lights from a roadblock flicker through the stormy night. Stepping out of your car, you're soaked within seconds. When you check your phone, you don't have any bars. No calls in or out.

Through the open windows, a computer awakens and displays a cheerful smile. The lights inside switch on.

Pick your scenario role below. Your thread partner doesn't need to take the opposite role! They can join you in the same scenario (i.e. trapped together). Players are also free to create a generic NPC for the other side to facilitate the thread.

After characters escape, they'll find one bottle of antibiotics in their pocket or car, whether they remember taking it or not.

A: Sealed In
As you peer through the windows, you see crates of medicine floating around. Antibiotics in the diadem are valuable. Hospitals and doctors are always buying. You can keep it for yourself or make a quick buck. Or maybe you're compelled to help somebody back in the city who's in need. Whatever the reason, you decide to take the risk and step inside.

Water splashes around your ankles. The lock buzzes behind you. If you try to break the windows, you discover they're unnaturally resistant to shattering. With the whole place locked tight, the water begins to churn. Then the computer lights up again.

Warning, it flashes in large, bold text. Quarantine in progress. Release code required for exit.

• To find the code, you'll have to search. Duck under the water, go through sopping envelopes and sticky notes or pick the locks on the filing cabinets and desk drawers. You can also try hacking the computers. Use your computer knowledge or fall back on the age-old trick of seeing who wrote down their password.
• The files, notepads, and emails start innocuous, but as you look through them, disturbing phrases jump out at you—a dark thought you've had or a cruel taunt from someone in your past. The longer you're fixed on the terrible words, the higher the water begins to rise. Only another can break you out of your trance.
• With the rising water comes fear. And the more you're afraid, the more the water also rises. You begin to see faces in the water, bobbing like balloon heads. Do you recognize them? If you move to take a closer look, they will sink back beneath the surface as if never there.
• If you manage to swallow your panic, you can eventually find a triple-laminated binder with the release code and instructions. Bad news: you need someone on the outside to punch in the 6 strange symbols in order. The instructions explain that the code panel is located at the back of the building.

Let's hope a friendly face comes along.

B: Set Free
As you peer through the windows, you see not just the crates of medicine but someone trapped inside. They look like they might be in trouble, and from your vantage point, you notice that the water is bubbling strangely. It's definitely not normal rainwater. As you watch, the water rises unnaturally, stopping and starting. It's as if the water level is responding to an external stimulus.

• The glass is soundproof. You can't hear what the person inside is saying, so you'll have to communicate with each other another way. Try charades, typing on your phone, or whatever you think of. Eventually, you determine that they're stuck and that you need to enter some sort of code onto a pad located—according to your trapped partner—at the back of the building.
• Around the back, shadows swallow your surroundings. The panel must be pried open, but a slippery substance makes it hard to get a good grip. Each time the substance touches you, you grow uneasy. You swear you see eyes watching you, though when you turn around, nothing's there.
• You can't seem to keep the instructions in your mind. And those symbols...they burn into your retinas. Through them, you glimpse an incomprehensibly massive figure unfurling in the darkness, pulsing as if in a deep sleep. When you snap back to reality, you realize you've injured yourself, slicing your hand on a sharp edge or a bruise you can't remember getting.
• Once you manage to release the doors, the water inside the office drains upward into the sky as though sucked out by a giant hose. The darkness spreads. Get out of there fast before the shadows drag you or your partner into the void.

Of course, you don't have to help anyone. You can leave the individual there, make a deal, or outright extort them. But remember, you're not the only person on these roads. You might want to play your cards carefully, even if altruism isn't your first instinct.

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Comments

[godjr]

[ The truth is, Jack did come out like this. Exactly like this. He was born into an adult body and more formulated personality, but he knows that is a very strange thing to admit to people. There was no time between when he started breathing and when he was expected to be a part of the family business. It all came together. ]

I didn't really have a childhood. I didn't get to do what children do. But it's okay! I was born with a greater purpose. Sometimes people just have to live with what they're given.

[ For Jack that means three years of a difficult and swift life. He's never thought about it in a constructive or even critical eye. He accepted it was his responsibility to use his powers to help others and stop from becoming evil like his biological father. A normal life was never a possibility. His mother knew that he would never get to learn how to ride a bike or get read stories before bed, he didn't have playgrounds and learning how to socialized with other kids, or playdates or sleepovers. He went right into the brutal world with people who wanted him dead or under their control.

A whole life of something else sounds like it could be exciting, but Jack knows that he doesn't have that kind of freedom. Not with the power raging through his veins, simmering under the surface, able to blast out of him and level buildings. He always has to be careful. It's nice to think a complete stranger wants those things for someone else though. Amos seems like a good person. ]

We're hunters. We protect people from monsters and creatures. Demons, angels, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, anything else that wants to harm ordinary people.

[ Those may all seem like impossible things to exist, but there are people in this city who fall under some of those categories. Jack knows that, he can sense it, although he's not as bloodthirsty as his family. He's fine with letting other people exist as long as they're not intentionally trying to eat innocent people. He'd have to step in there, but he thinks monsters don't deserve to die for existing. He's a monster, after all. ]

It's a hard life but a fulfilling one. I do wish I got to talk to more people, but it's not our job to linger before the next case.

[churnback]

[ I didn't really have a childhood. I didn't get to do what children do. But it's okay!

Yeah, no, it's really not. Whatever the reason — whatever happened to him that he lost all of that, it's not okay. But he can't say he disagrees with people having to live with what they're given. That's all there really is. No other choice. For Amos, he carries his past in the way it shaped him, made him what he is. He knows what he lost all those years ago, the kind of person he became, out of that violent city. But life is now, not then. He doesn't stay there, in those moments.

And he recognizes that whatever happened for this kid, it's all said and done now, at least the beginning is. Nothing can be changed about that. And while he'd absolutely pass judgment on people he hasn't met, there's not enough known about them yet to set off red flags. But for all the protecting him and his family do, who protects him? Do they?

Really, he can only offer his limited perspective, which is that he at least thinks here, of all places, there's maybe more than what he had.

What they do, what they hunt, that's not what he could have predicted, but then again, nothing about even his current situation is something he could have predicted a few days ago. If this could be real, and some of the other shit he's heard could be real, he guesses whatever these creatures are might as well be real, too. ]

We don't have things like that where I'm from — those kinds of monsters.

[ The other kind of monsters, though — plenty.

Up ahead of them, someone's arguing with the employee just trying to do their job and pass out samples, and he just vaguely hears it, but it means they're still in the same spot they've been and he's just — debating leaving the line at this point. Why is he still talking to this kid, though? It's something about him that pings that kids don't deserve shit getting thrown at them feeling. And for all intents and purposes, the young guy in front of him fits that bill. ]

What are you gonna do here, not protecting people from...vampires, and all the other stuff?

[ Circling back to the "fun job" now, even though there's plenty left unknown about him. ]

[godjr]

[ Jack would say that he's shaped the same way, he's just younger. What has happened to him in his short three years has been mostly terrible with some glimpses of good, some months or weeks that were better than others. That's the reason he had to be born fully formed, because a baby or a child couldn't have survived the life he was given. Only an adult-adjacent could persevere. He doesn't have it in him to wish things were different, really. He's tried to experience his life as it is.

It's nice to have someone who cares enough to ask him questions. He's felt very alone in this place. Jack has never been alone for long periods of time, he usually found his family again, or got attached to a group to protect. He knows the man is likely humoring him because they're in a line, but Jack absorbs these moments of attention like a flower starving for sunlight. ]

Most of the people in my world think they don't exist either. I don't know why because they really are everywhere. I guess they don't want to see it.

[ Maybe when it's right in their face, they ignore the signs rather than admit that their world is more complicated than they think. The question is a good one and it troubles him. Jack's never been without a purpose before. He had what he thought was a clear destiny, a path he was required to go on for everyone's sake, but now he's here and that doesn't make any sense. ]

I don't know. A regular person job might be fun. I was thinking the bowling alley because my family would go there, it has a bar. So I'd find them.

[ Jack is very attached to them so it's difficult for him to fathom a life without someone looking over his shoulder or guiding him. Someone that won't trick him like Billie or the angels. Without that assurance it'll be up to him to make good choices, and that's unnerving. ]

What about you? What do you do here?

[churnback]

At some point, you'll have to tell me what the hell those things are, exactly.

[ He has a general, very vague knowledge of vampires and werewolves, but he didn't grow up with any kind of media or books that had stories about any of those. Ghosts, angels, demons — he's more familiar with, but this kid talks about a world where they're all real and it's a concept beyond him. Not the concept of other worlds, though. Other worlds with their own stories that aren't stories. After the Ring — all the shit out there, he can believe a lot.

On the surface, there isn't a single part of this kid that Amos would find much in the way of similarities with. He just seems like someone who's had a weird life he can't entirely fathom, and he kinda wonders how he's gonna handle this world he's in now. But internally, they a few similar thoughts without knowing it.

Amos knows he's a monster himself, but there aren't feelings of angst and melancholy about it. He just knows what he is and he knows what he needs and wants to do about it, which is — the best he can to latch onto the instincts towards goodness that he feels he lacks. He can't trust himself to make good choices on his own, he's had to build that sense of morality from others. And the longer he's away from his crew here, he doesn't know what direction his instincts will veer. ]

Well — I was on a mechanic on a ship. The kind of ship that flies in space. So it's different here, but I'll figure something out. [ A lot of the parts in this world, the vehicles and machinery, are old and unfamiliar, new to him, but that doesn't worry him either. He just needs to get his hands on things and he can pick it up and learn it. Won't be instant, just like anything. ] Haven't been to the bowling alley yet.

[ If he were a different person, he'd jump on trying to stay close to this kid because he seems like he needs — someone, at least. He'd be much better off with someone like Holden — who he can hear in his head saying he should try to stick close, keep an eye on him. As far as he knows, his family isn't here, and he seems like he might be kinda lost without them. But Amos has his own shit to deal with. On his own, he lacks the ability to care about what happens to him. The feelings are there, somewhere far away from him, not close enough for him to access. But the better people in his head, they're like that bridge to get there, to try, to see how it feels.

The question to ask is, You gonna be okay without them? Like, what the fuck is he gonna do right now?

Holden and Naomi would ask. Amos — thinks it, and the question doesn't come from him. It's them. ]

If you're gonna be there, maybe I'll see you.

[ Yeah. There. He tests how it feels to say it, even if it's not much. It's not so bad. It doesn't disrupt Amos doing what he needs to do, either. ]

[godjr]

I know a lot about them, I could tell you!

[ Jack latches onto reasons for him to talk with other people because he is a lonely individual and very alone at the moment. He also is someone who can't trust himself to make good choices on his own. He will, because he has to, he has no other choice here, but it makes him very nervous. Too many people have managed to influence him in the wrong direction though that it's just as dangerous for him to cling to strangers and listen to them intently as if they can show him the way. One of these days he'll have to be able to listen to his own voice and trust in himself. Today is just not that.

His eyes widen into saucers at that description and he has a similar excited look to a childish wonder. Jack loves space stories, he's a huge Star Wars fan. It's the one place that he could probably go that he doesn't know how. Lucifer told him they were capable of going out into the stars and universe, but he never showed Jack how, so the idea of it is still novel. ]

A spaceship? Do you know how to fly one? Have you been in any space battles? Have you been on many planets?

[ His usual quiet tone is enthusiastic now as he eagerly asks the questions, but it's only a moment or two later that he realizes he's peppered Amos and that's probably annoying. His excitement can be exhausting to other people, he knows that, and he's fairly slow to it ordinarily, he's not often so energetic. ]

Sorry. [ He deflates and his smile is nervous, hesitant. ] Maybe if you see me there, you can tell me about your space travels? [ It's hopeful but giving Amos the ability to walk away without pressure.]

[churnback]

[ His sheer excitement at the mention of space is...something. Not something Amos is used to seeing. Not bad, actually, just a lot. But the kind of a lot that just takes a minute getting used to, and doesn't actually bother him in any way at all. He recognizes it as a form of feeling and emotion he doesn't himself have familiarity with, but it's interesting. To see it. He's just — fully being himself, no mask, no filtering, just who he is. Gotta admire it. He likes him, he finds.

Which is why what he says next isn't exactly an answer to anything at all, but some kind of start, maybe.

He's got nothing to be sorry for, though. And that may or may not be clear in the way Amos slightly tilts his head, his expression just barely softening. ]

Guess we'll owe each other some stories.

[ His tone suggests he's okay enough with the idea, but internally, Amos is — a little cautious about this. In terms of 'owing' anyone anything at all, this is easy, simple, innocent. It's not really owing each other anything, at the heart of it. No promises have been made.

What makes him hesitate and feel like he's one foot in the door and one foot out is the suggestion all but implies he has some degree of intention about seeing him again. And he's not sure how he feels about it, not sure how he'd feel about it no matter who he was chatting up in the samples line at the store.

It's something about this kid, though, that makes him less 'foot out the door' about it all. He genuinely wants to know more about what all of this protecting people business is, all of these creatures he hunts, and whatever the important thing is he needed to do before he got here. It's a lot for anyone to carry around, especially someone like him. ]

Kinda boring if I tell you everything right away.

[ He's next up for his sample, and he has places to be, but just one thought tugs at him and for whatever reason, he needs to check. Figures it's Holden's influence in him. ]

You got somewhere to stay for now?

can probably wrap on yours

[godjr]

Yeah? [ His smile is hopeful. ] I would like that very much!

[ It will be something he keeps in mind in case he does see Amos again, but if he never sees him again, he won't go looking or try to be annoying about it. Jack understands that sometimes people are just being polite and he's learned not to expect anything from others. Then it will be a nice surprise instead of a disappointment if it doesn't work out.

Amos reminds him a bit of his father Castiel. He's calm and gives little away in his expression and speaks very directly and simply. Jack is similar although his youth is often given away by his more curious and obliviously blunt mannerisms. He is excited by how many people he's met since coming here and that many of them have been willing to interact with him. Enough that he's gotten great practice with his small talk! ]

Yes I found a motel with power. It reminds me of many others I have been to with my family.

[ Jack is offered a sample right after Amos so they are both at the front of the line now and he steps aside. He was handed the chocolate eggs and peers curiously at it. The alien aspect doesn't bother him. He likes new things and food in particular, despite not needing much of it. ]

I'm Jack Kline! If you go to the bowling alley, that's my name.

and a wrap \o/

[churnback]

[ There's a way Amos' expression softens just a little more as they're about to walk away from each other, like shades of a smile, the start of one. It doesn't linger, it's not big, but it's also genuine; different from the more empty, falsely amiable smile he's put on for others, people he doesn't know well and doesn't care to know. Those empty smiles are just a way of getting by and getting through, the kind of thing that puts people at ease.

But this is just for Jack; small, brief, and maybe a start.

He's got his own samples, some he might toss, some he'll keep and enjoy. The affirmation that Jack has a place to stay at least wraps up a loose thread for him. He's not sure what he would have done if he'd said no, but he knows he couldn't have just let that be.

So he gives him a nod. ]

Amos. [ And, like with the start of a smile, he means this, too: ] Be safe out there, Jack.

[ If he sees him by the motel, he might keep an eye out, too. Unseen. Only getting involved on his terms, but — nearby. ]